The subtitle of this book is "A way to look at motivation in the composition classroom". That is just what it is. The book came from a Nation Writing Project pair of teachers who developed the idea and tried it for two years before they wrote the book. First they explained Maslow's hierarchy of human needs with suggestions of what that can mean in the classroom. Then they had descriptions of students at each level. They suggested writing needs for each level differ. Then they suggested writing assignments to meet the various needs.
The implications for me are that I will become more conscious of individual student needs and will try to match individual assignments sometimes to see if there is a difference. I will see if that does build a "want to write" attitude. Then I agree with the authors that the more they write the more their skills will develop.
Others might be interested in reviewing Maslow's hierarchy in relation to writing. It would be appropriate for all levels. It emphasizes taking students from where they are and increasing their skills. They include a chart titled "Writing Gripes" to help identify the level of the student. They also have a chart titled "Why Write?" which could help in planning writing assignments. They also have a "My Composing Process" questionnaire to use.